


we all sit around the fire (we feel a little warmer now)

by cynical_optimist



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Dorks in Love, Other, Post-Canon, Secret Samol 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:54:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22318960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cynical_optimist/pseuds/cynical_optimist
Summary: Benjamin and Blue J make camp and talk about the future.
Relationships: Benjamin/Blue J (Friends at the Table)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11
Collections: Secret Samol 2019





	we all sit around the fire (we feel a little warmer now)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [galaxyowl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyowl/gifts).



> hey, sam! i hope you like this - ben and blue j are such a cute couple to write, and i hope i did them justice. i've also made an accompanying playlist [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2wDv9bFEYKo0ATaMDIVPGX?si=5Elbp4rRQkm9laUAiC5boQ); the title is from "the woods" by hollow coves, which is on the playlist.
> 
> many thanks to bies and dora for listening to me figure out what i was doing with this lol

Anytime they’re in an area of the Rhizome dark enough to require it, lighting a fire when making camp is a race between Blue J and Benjamin– practiced skill or magic, a toss-up between abilities that’s lasted for years now. Benjamin’s perfectly capable of making one the old fashioend way, but he always insists it’ll be faster to do it magically. Blue J likes to challenge that.

And sure, it would be more efficient to take turns with this duty like they take turns with others. Safer too, maybe. There have been a few times their game has resulted in nearby threats being alerted to their presence, or a delay in setting up their camp that leaves them grumpy later, or, one memorable evening, the two of them almost tumbling into the fire themselves. It’s not exactly what someone would expect of two explorer-slash-adventurers.

There’s something to the tradition, though, that Blue J keeps tucked close to their heart. They may be explorers in a world that has changed over and over again, but they were kids once, too. Kids who laughed together and found secret rooms above gardens and played dumb games.

Besides, it’s not as though it’s a common occurance in a world with too many suns to count. Just trips like these, along branches so shielded by the canopy hardly any natural light breaks through.

Tonight, Blue J beats Benjamin to making the fire, because he’s distracted annotating a sketch of a plant they’d found earlier that day. When Blue J glances over, he’s lit softly in the light of a spell, face set in concentration as he scratches in his notebook. Their fox is curled up at his feet, having already explored the small clearing they’re resting for the night–or what they assume is light, down here. He looks adorable, and Blue J knows he’s going to be pissed when he realises they’ve broken his winning streak.

“Hey, Blue,” he says, still focused, and Blue J grins as they rise from their finished work. “Do you remember that flower we found a few weeks ago, the one with the…” He looks up finally, searching for the words, and when he catches sight of the fire his mouth drops. “Hey!” Benjamin stalks over, every inch of him offended, his light spell fading. Disturbed, the fox jumps up. “You didn’t even give me a chance!”

Blue J laughs. “You were busy!” they say, opening an arm to him. Despite his apparent offense, he leans into them. “I was just taking advantage of the moment.”

“Of my distraction,” he grumbles, then pulls out another notebook from his bag, opening it and making a tally mark. “I’m still in the lead this trip, anyway.”

“For now,” Blue J counters. “Who knows how long we’ll be in the dark.” The words come out a little more despondent than they mean them to. Usually they don’t mind the dark–relish the break from the constant sun, even.

Usually, the truly sunless sections of the Rhizome don’t take more than a couple of days to travel through. They’ve been on this branch for close to two weeks at their best guess, with no real sign of an end. It’s dark, and cold, and often unpleasantly wet.

“You okay?” Benjamin asks, the way he’s been asking since they were teens in the cold, long winter before this eternal spring, and Blue J shrugs.

“Mostly tired,” they say, knowing he’ll get what they mean.

Benjamin hums in understanding, pressing a kiss to Blue J’s shoulder before pulling away and reaching toward their packs. “We should eat,” he says. Blue J nods, taking the offered ration when he pulls it out, and settles onto the ground in front of the fire.

Almost immediately, their fox jumps up onto their lap, settling their head on the curve of Blue J’s knee. Blue J runs a hand through their petals as Benjamin sits next to them, pulling out his notebook again even as he eats. He makes another few notes, tilting the paper so that Blue J can see.

“I think it glowed more blue-ish than white,” they say, pointing to one of his notes, and Benjamin hums and makes a correction. The two of them stay like that for a while, chewing on their food while Benjamin scratches in his notebook and Blue J comments on his notes.

This, too, is a tradition. Sometimes it’s maps, carefully drawn out across entire books’ worth of paper. Sometimes it’s notes on magic, compiled and shared where needed. They’ll sit together before settling down to sleep, quietly discussing all they’ve encountered that day, helping each other find just the right way to put what they want to say. And– even in the cold and dark of this branch of the Rhizome, that makes Blue J feel warm in a way they can’t quite describe.

That they are making their own traditions together– the way Throndir is with their dad, the way Benjamin’s parents have, the way Aunt Hella is with Adaire and Adelaide, the way that partners have for years and years and years on end– sits like a flower in their chest, blooming and blooming and never stopping. They had told Throndir–as a young teen, as an enthusiastic mentee, as a new Ranger– that they wanted to be around Benjamin forever, and these days they can imagine being old and grey next to their partner, reading his notes over his shoulder and murmuring about the classification of plants.

They’ve only been able to consider that–really consider it, not just dream about it and wish about it and mutter angrily about destiny about it– relatively recently. The thought of growing old next to Ben as themself is one that settles easily now, sure and content.

“What’re you thinking about?” Benjamin asks absently, and Blue J leans their head on his shoulder.

“Not much,” they answer, then, “growing old.”

Benjamin laughs, but it’s gentle. He shuts his book and shifts around so they’re facing each other, holding each other. “Feeling old already?” he teases. 

Blue J snorts, because they haven’t even figured out how they really age yet in the odd magic of the Rhizome, and softly pinches Benjamin’s side. Their partner jumps back, laughing, and grabs their hand.

“Growing old with  _ you _ , dumbass,” they say, and Ben’s face warms and softens in the glow of the fire. He crowds up to them again, kisses them once and then twice on the lips.

“I like thinking about that too,” he replies. It’s not the first time they’ve talked about this– then, they’d been anxious and embarrassed and wishing for a future they weren’t certain of. Now, his voice is sure and confident.

“Good,” Blue J says, and kisses him again, smiling.

Eventually, they set out their bed rolls next to each other and curl up together, the fox draping themself over Blue J’s feet. Benjamin brushes his fingers up and down Blue J’s arm, and Blue J pulls up their blanket so that it’s covering both of them well enough to sleep.

“Hey,” Benjamin murmurs sleepily after a few minutes, and Blue J hums in reply. “Do you remember our room above the garden, back before the Rhizome?”

“Yeah?” Blue J isn’t quite close to sleep yet, but is feeling hazily half-gone.

“It just reminded me of it,” Benjamin continues. “You know, the two of us alone, conversations in the dark, talking about the future…”

Blue J huffs a sleepy laugh, curling tighter around him. “Guess so,” they say. “You talking when we’re trying to fall asleep…”

Benjamin laughs, too. “You like it,” he counters, and nuzzles closer. “Always have. Getting me to read to you–” he yawns. “Talk about magic and stuff.”

“Yeah,” Blue J agrees, because they do; they really do.

“I’ll do it ‘til we’re old,” Benjamin adds, words fading at the ends, and Blue J smiles, warm all over.

“That sounds nice,” they murmur, and close their eyes–and ahead of them, ready to be mapped, is the future, warm and bright.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find my twitter @spiderangst and my tumblr @boxesfullofthoughts <3


End file.
